You're tuned in to Roundtable.
I'm Steve Hatherly today with Yushun and Yushan.
Coming up, what happens when a vibe goes viral for all the wrong reasons?
We'll pull back the curtain on the performative male.
From the carefully staged photo to the quiet backlash it's starting to receive.
Is this a new form of self-expression or just the oldest trick in the book?
After that, from eggs to durian.
The story of how supermarket psychology went from practical staples to spiky, stinky virality.
What does a generation that craves clout over coupons mean for the future of our supermarkets?
Our podcast listeners, that's you, can find us at Roundtable China on Apple Podcasts.
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And now picture this.
You're scrolling through your feed and you stop on a photo that feels strangely familiar.
A man sits alone at a cafe table.
There's a vintage film camera placed just so.
And next to that, a well-worn book.
Something philosophical.
Something serious.
The lighting is soft.
The framing feels effortless.
And the caption reads simply, Sunday Reflections.
At first glance, the image feels calm and thoughtful, maybe even grounded.
It suggests taste or introspection, maybe even moral awareness, without ever stating any of that directly.
Well, what I've just described to you is what the Internet calls the performative male.
Not a villain per se or a caricature, but a recognizable type, someone who communicates identity, values and depth, primarily through carefully staged signals.
Now, this kind of image isn't new.
Versions of it have been circulating for years, but recently it started to attract more attention, more critique and a lot more people talking about it.
People have begun to pause not just on the photo, but the feeling that it produces.
Is this real or is this just curated?
And that's the tension between sincerity and performance.
And it's kind of where our conversation begins.
So the performative male, before we talk about what that actually is, or I should say who he actually is.
Where is this happening?
I'm assuming it has to be on all kinds of Internet spaces.
Yeah, for basically this phenomenon is most pronounced in highly online media saturated spaces, especially in urban cultural centers.
It first became widely recognizable in West contexts, but it's no longer just confined there.
It's kind of an international phenomenon that we can see online.
Here in China a bit too, right?
Which we'll get to in a little while.
So wherever identity is publicly displayed or interpreted or rewarded, these dynamics tend to appear.
And some social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok or X podcast newsletters.
Substack wherever that you can find some of their like um expression is the way that you can do this.
Yeah, i think these platforms, they don't just host self-expression, that's um the part where they actually reward your consistency and coherence in keep on showcasing yourself in such a way and, over time, this kind of encourages people to start to turn their inner lives into something that reads clearly from the outside, so they see like a brand through yeah, Yeah.
So the identity then changes from who you are to how you come across when other people view you.
They say that the performative male most pops up with creatives and cultural workers or media adjacent professionals.
Oops, that's us.
Yeah.
Politically or intellectually engaged men.
Or people who gain social or romantic capital by appearing thoughtful or sensitive and progressive.
And I think of the things I just mentioned, the last one is kind of the point that rubs people the wrong way.
When you're trying to gain social capital or romantic capital as a man by posting images of yourself online that show you off as someone that you are not.
So by performative I would assume that these male, These men, they are dressing up in a way that usually is not like how they truly are.
Well see okay, this is where this becomes tricky, because it's important to say up front, I think, that the performative male isn't necessarily lying.
That's part of the problem is that we don't know.
Right.
It's hard to tell who's faking.
Who's being authentic and who's faking because in a lot of cases, the interests or the tastes...
Or the values on display are genuine.
But what changes, or what has changed is how they're arranged or how they're emphasized or how they're broadcast.
And one of the main things people have a big problem with is this prop-based identity.
When we started this chat and I said, imagine this, a picture of a man online sitting in a cafe.
The lighting is just right.
There's a book on the table, and it might say Eastern philosophy of the 16th century or something.
Or women's rights.
Something that makes him look like, oh, you're really progressive.
Or you're very deep, aren't you?
Eastern philosophy from the 16th century.
Wow.
But there's no mention of the book.
So the prop-based identity means...
Is that book his book?
Or is that just something from a shelf, somewhere that he put in the picture to make himself look like he's that kind of person?
And final point here, this extends to fashion as well.
You know, you might have the horn rimmed black glasses with a black turtleneck something or a corduroy jacket.
The fashion?
There's no answer to that, it's just the fashion senses them or matches the mood to make the guy look like an intellectual or whatever vibe he might be going for.
But the thing is that we're not saying if you have the, all of these gadgets is wrong, it's just, and we cannot identify they are faking it or pretending or just using this.
For what reason?
And some may even just they really like that.
But the thing is that, as you said in the beginning, maybe they have that kind of image without ever stating any of that directly.
But everything in hand maybe was sophisticatedly designed.
Yeah, designed.
That's the point.
And that's the performative male.
And that's why people have a problem with this.
Now there's one more aspect that people have a problem with, and that's something called virtue signaling.
Virtue signaling is when you publicly express your moral or your perhaps political beliefs.
But you're doing it.
You're expressing your moral beliefs to gain social approval.
But don't people do that all the time?
That's what virtue signaling is, is that you're doing it.
Not to create meaningful change, not to create a meaningful online discussion.
Right.
Yeah.
It's about me.
It's about you.
And it's about showing off so that you can get the likes.
You can get the comments that say, wow, good for you.
You support this cause.
What an amazing person you are.
That's called virtue signaling signaling.
But down inside in the core if you are a true believer of that or not, still kind of in the gray area, you're just putting that on as if it's a costume or props.
Do you remember when um, the karen thing became a thing for ladies but that's a nickname for ladies who are particularly picky yeah, like entitled uh, women who complain in places that they shouldn't complain?
It became like an internet thing a few years ago and it was kind of a.
It lasted for a while And I remember reading stories about women whose name was actually Karen and they were quite bothered by that.
True, they were.
And I'm kind of reminded of that now, because if you are a guy who happens to be into Eastern philosophy of the 16th century or vintage cameras or cool vinyl records from the late 1970s, well then you're kind of being, You're kind of being.
Turned into a villain here when those are your genuine interests.
So it's kind of hard.
But the men part of this thing is just one specific aspect.
If we open it up, if we kind of look at it from a bigger picture, this is all part of aura farming, something called aura farming.
I just kind of learned this term.
So apparently, aura farming is to gain traction, to describe the internal cultivation of a personal vibe that's calm intellectual mysterious, enlightened through repeated aesthetic and behavioral choices.
So that could be um, something that's very popular, trendy on social media, like aura farming 101 dress sharp and read a book in public.
The joke kind of works because it land close to the truth and yeah, that kind of fits.
What performative male are kind of known for too.
Yeah um, does this exist in china?
Yeah, as we mentioned it, it seems like, and as you've been like describing all of that phenomenon and trends we can see yeah, it's appearing in Chinese social media as well, especially in, maybe in the scene of dating, online dating scenes.
So, and then they will mostly introduce themselves as artsy and knowledgeable and they will always list long list of their like reading list.
I have a book list of that and mostly it will be very deep and thoughtful, philosophical books, and I and also they will describe that I like that famous director, maybe Wong Kar-Wai, or hold on.
Why are you laughing right now?
Because it reminds me of a, A theme or hashtag that girls kind of love these days, called the hot nerd.
But is it the same like hot nerds who are, you know, wearing glasses and curling their hair?
Unless they are pretending to attract people, because these are the things, maybe they are the icons that they want to show people that I am, that artsy and I like that.
And also photos are also another art form for them, like hand-brewed coffee or matcha latte, reading an indie bookstore and black and white photography everything.
They try to design them as a...
Yeah, finish your thought, sorry.
That kind of person.
Sensitive and progressive.
I interrupted because I suddenly remembered the matcha.
The matcha, the drink, is a huge part of the performative male's aesthetic.
Sitting in the cafe holding a matcha.
Is that a thing here too?
No, it is.
It's not that it's wrong to hold a matcha and sit in the cafeteria, but it's just something.
If you're using that cup of matcha just as a prop to showcase your own identity or aura, then you become part of that vibe of performative male.
And this kind of strikes me as if it's gender neutral in a way, because all that we've described top back, matcha and vinyl like The aesthetics for a movie or a certain kind of mysterious feelings that you give other people, that can also be a girl's thing.
It can be anybody.
It can be anybody.
It can be anybody.
As long as you're genuine.
Yeah, these days the focus is on the performative male, though.
So why are people hating this so much?
You know, because in the way that performative, these artsy men often present themselves as sensitive and progressive in the early stage of maybe meeting or dating.
But once that kind of relationship deepens they, their like outdated gender views begin to show.
They just reveal their real version of them.
And then that is a deep disconnect between what they say and who they actually are.
Your online self and your offline self are not the same person.
So, beneath that kind of performance, They still have that kind of old arrogance, and only now it's wrapped in that kind of sensitive vulnerability and used as a weapon to extract their emotional labor from maybe, another side of.
Yeah, and I understand that.
And that is worth criticism, because if you are pretending to be somebody else that you're not well, then sure it's bad.
There's a flip side to this coin, though.
And I think sometimes this criticism can get to a point where gender policing becomes a thing.
What about the men who are not performing?
Yeah, I was thinking about that.
What about the men who have a softer side or a softer aesthetic?
Or they do have an introspective persona, but they're mocked or they're attacked online as being inauthentic or maybe even unmanly?
Well then, you're pushing that type of man back into the – to retreat into perhaps, traditional masculinity, where you're supposed to show pictures online of you with your shirt off at the gym saying oh, I bench pressed 200 kilograms today, something like that.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm just saying there's nothing wrong with either of them.
So you could reinforce the very stereotypes that social progress is constantly trying to challenge and to change.
Ironically, I think.
Yeah, it's just how well you are demonstrating your kind of figure, or your online persona in many ways, because nowadays one person can have a lot of different alter ego as shown online.
This is one version of me, and then that's some something else, but we want to see a genuine, alive person showcasing a different facet of his life instead of oh, this is how you stage your life for other people to see, But aren't we all just performing all the time anyway?
I mean, this is a very deep question.
Yeah, at work or in public or online.
So the real question isn't just whether performance exists, but whether there's still a version of that self that isn't optimized for a display.
And we're not saying any of these are wrong.
If you're real into that kind of thing, because it's just you and um, some and they're doing that is just because uh, that is favored by a lot of people, so only if they're just pretending to be like that and that's not real and authentic.
So think about Like, who are you when nothing is being captured and when nothing is being found?
Yeah.
Who are you when the camera's not around?
Girl or boy, online or offline, as long as you stay genuine, that's going to be something that will be accepted by everybody else.
You don't have to fake it all the time.
I can't improve on that, so I'll wrap up this segment.
You're listening to Roundtable and coming up.
Has the stinky little durian become the hottest item in the supermarket?
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Then tune in to Roundtable, where East meets West and understanding is the goal.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Steve with Yushun and Yushan.
A couple of decades ago, you could argue that eggs were the supermarket's reliable go-to for drawing in customers.
But But today the durian is in the spotlight and it's fueled by people's desire for little indulgences and viral social media hype.
This, to me, is kind of a fascinating change.
It is a direct reaction to a new generation of shoppers that is kind of completely rewriting what retail in the supermarket is all about.
So what's going on here?
Yeah.
And first of all, that is the background we need to know.
In the past, perhaps like 10 to 20 years ago, supermarkets just use that kind of strategies like giving out or giving away free eggs with purchases were selling eggs at really, really low price to attract customers to queue in that supermarket to make you feel that it is really popular.
My grandma still kind of attended these kind of activities now.
Yeah, I was also participating with my mom.
The only thing better than an egg is a free egg.
Yeah, so most of those customers were middle-aged or elderly, but now...
It is a little different.
Durian has emerged as supermarkets, new trafficking to attract people or even young people in the new retail landscape.
And we watched the supermarket chains like Hema and Sam's Club and Yonghui.
These are just some well-known brands and roll out aggressive durian promotions like 20 yuan for 500 gram when buying a durian.
That's not bad.
Yeah, that's really kind of a reasonable price when you compare it to other prices.
A durian that weighs, let's say, about 5 kilograms as an example.
If you have that Like regularly, if you buy that, it can be more like 100 yuan more expensive.
So they're using the durian in the same way that they used the eggs a couple of decades ago to attract people.
Here in China we call it.
Each generation has their own free eggs.
For grandmas it's the genuine free eggs, but for us it's the cheaper durian fruit.
Then why, why the durian?
Why has the durian been selected as the star?
Because nowadays, under social media influence, durian fruit has kind of become this luxurious indulgence for many, because you know how sweet it is.
It's not even just for the young people, it's for just everybody.
Just right before we come down to the studio, I overheard our video team sitting behind us in the same room, one of the chief editor, a fine gentleman who's close to his retirement age, just praising how good durian fruit tastes.
So that's the appeal of things.
I've never said him.
So we're skipping that smelly part, right?
Yeah, skipping that.
But Then zooming back to the Gen Z young people, we are indeed, well, especially for those of us who age between 20 to 35, we are indeed the driving force of a lot of today's China's consumption nowadays. that make up over 60 percent of total consumption and what will be ours the quote-unquote free egg is what the supermarkets are figuring out now and they come up with the conclusion durian fruit because young people they we love durian fruit and Buying it in a relatively cheaper price makes us feel, yeah, we're rewarding ourselves.
Speaking of reward, there's a connection to the blind box drama.
Excuse me.
Explain why or how a durian can be connected to a blind box.
Isn't that just fun when you buy a durian and you will never know?
Because durian itself you don't know what's inside and how big that is fruit can be.
And explain please how many of that slice of durian that you can get when you open that hard shell.
It can be a big fruit but it can be a really small piece of fruit inside.
That's the blind box part.
See, i've never purchased a durian, oh really, and i've never.
You need to try it.
Yeah um, so i didn't know this, so you can't tell.
Because like a watermelon right, you can, they say You can knock on a watermelon or you look for the little patch on the bottom.
But with a durian, you can't tell what's going on inside just by looking at the outside.
Yeah, if it doesn't break from inside and you can't peek inside, then you never know what size of a fruit you're getting.
That is kind of fun, I suppose, isn't it?
So supermarkets, they know that it's become kind of a niche little fun thing for young people.
They've done the blind box connection.
So they've put some active strategy behind the hype then.
First of all, it is kind of a screening when you are trying to attract these group of people who would like to, of course, pay a little bit more for higher quality products maybe.
And then durian buyers are often potential consumers of these high margin products like cherries, premium seafood and these relatively more expensive products products.
And even if durian sells, break even or lose money, it acts like a ticket to locking these valuable uh customers.
And it works for new stores.
Check out this uh statistic for new stores, durian drives immediate foot traffic, accounting for up to 50 percent of opening sales.
Yes, stores with durian promotions can see three times the revenue of those without.
And then word of mouth It spreads quickly within the community right.
About.
Oh, there's a hot sale at the supermarket with the durians going on, and that's how they're taking advantage.
But each retailers are also kind of need to identify your own durian.
It's not always that one standard fit all, because for some it's Depending on the regions some fruits are more welcomed and then some are not.
So that's also a very interesting notification.
Are you fans of durian?
Do you like it?
Yes, I am.
And I am not.
And I can tell you, if you've never smelled durian before, if you do you will say oh, that must be durian.
That's all I can say about that.
And that'll do it for Roundtable 4 today.
Thank you very much for sharing your time with us.
Thanks to Yushan and Yushan.
I'm Steve.
Have a good one, and we'll see you next time.
